User blog:SPARTAN 119/Hax0red Art Online: Aiden Pearce (WATCH DOGS) vs Kayaba Akihiko (Sword Art Online)
2022, notorious vigilante Aiden Pearce travels to Tokyo after his latest target: Kayaba Akihiko, a game developer turned mass murderer who killed over 2000 people with a most peculiar weapon, a next-gen virtual reality game console designed to kill the user if they die in the game. Will Akihiko get succeed in his killing spree, or will he just be one more criminal to face hi-tech vigilante justice!? =Aiden Pearce= Aiden Pearce is a man shaped by violence and obsessed with surveillance. He monitors his family in secret to protect them from something that happened in his past. When his family is endangered once again, he takes justice into his own hands. Pearce is a hybrid hacker/vigilante, who has hacked Chicago's CtOS by using backdoors he created while programming it. The CtOS is Chicago's Central Operating System, which controls the city's entire information network. Using the CtOS and his mobile phone, Pearce can access the personal information of everyone in Chicago as well as control the city's security system. His abilities include, but are not limited to, disrupting communications, controlling trains and traffic lights, and even causing a city-wide blackout when cornered. Raised in Chicago's inner city, Pearce is accustomed to violence. When confronted physically, he typically uses a baton to retaliate, but he has also been shown to be proficient with firearms. In trailers, he most often uses a 9mm pistol, but he is known to be proficient with over 30 different types of firearms. Despite taking justice into his own hands, Pierce tends to disable his victims when there is clear evidence for the police to make an arrest. In cases where there is not enough evidence to convict or if he is attacked, however, Pearce has shown no hesitation in performing executions. After the death of his niece, Lena Pearce, Aiden used his hacking abilities and weapon proficiency to bring down the Chicago South Club, the Viceroys, the Pawnee Miltia, and the corrupt PMC the Blume Industries, and to eliminate the key figures associated with her death. Weapons/Abilities Firearms During his time as a vigilante in Chicago, Aiden Pearce became an expert marksman, proving himself competent with over thirty firearms, ranging from handguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, light machine guns, and grenade launchers. For the purposes of this match, Aiden will have his Beretta PX4 handgun with him, as well as a Hecker and Koch 416 assault rifle for longer-range combat as standard. He will also be able to use any other weapon he might get a hold of. Collapsible Baton Aiden will also have a collapsible metal police baton for use in close quarters combat. Aiden is highly skilled at defending himself at close range with the weapon, making strikes aimed to disarm or knock his adversary unconscious. Hacking/CtOS 2.0 At the end of Watch Dogs, it is revealed that Chicago's CtOS was merely a test bed for the global CtOS network. Aiden will be able to tap into the CtOS 2.0 network in Japan, using it for many of the same purposes that he did so in Chicago. The CtOS network will include a translator, so he will be able to read Japanese police reports etc. In addition to accessing restricted files, Aiden will also be able to locate any person, read a person's profile, including criminal records, hack bank accounts, and activate or deactivate anything connected to a wireless network, including traffic lights, gates, garage doors, retractable blockers and road spikes, overload steam pipes and transformers, causing explosions, raise and lower bridges, operate cranes and scissor lifts, disable helicopters, and even activate remote detonated explosives. IF Aiden chooses to attack from within SAO, Aiden's hacking abilities will be more limited- he will not, for instance, be able to simply log out all players or skip entire levels of Aincrad without clearing them, or at least not without access to the hidden admin console hidden in the high-level monster infested dungeon under Black Iron Castle on the first floor of Aincrad. Within SAO, Aiden will still have some hacking powers, including manipulating NPCs, including both friendly and hostile AIs. For instance, he will be able to make in-game enemies target specific players. He will also be able to create and improve items, increase his level at will, activate and deactivate immortal objects. However, if his hacking is detected, it could potentially activate the microwave device in the Nerve Gear and kill him. Crafted Items Using various electrical and chemical components, Aiden can create devices such as comms jammers, improvised explosive devices, distractions, and devices designed to black out entire areas. Methods of Attack There are two primary methods of attack Pearce could use to locate Kayaba: External Approach The external approach consists of using his hacking abilities to locate Akihiko and free the players trapped in SAO without actually entering the game itself. All internal approaches involve using CtOS 2.0 to locate vulnerabilities in the SAO network, or to locate Akihiko himself. Some options include hacking into the server at RECTO Progress, the company that took over the SAO server and VR technology after Akihiko's Argus Software went bankrupt, or directly from a Nerve Gear of an SAO patient, possibly uploading a virus to log out all players or activate the microwave generator on Akihiko's Nerve Gear console. Pearce could potentially even locate Kayaba without hacking SAO at all, if he uncovers the name of Rinko Kojirou, Akihiko's former girlfriend, and tracks her. Kojirou, after giving up on stopping Akihiko as she realized she didn't have the willpower to actually kill him, now regularly travels to Akihiko's location, taking care of him and maintaining the IV drip and other equipment necessary to keep him alive while his conciousness is trapped within his own "Death Game". Internal Approach The method of attacking Akihiko involves Aiden Pearce literally entering Sword Art Online. This method could lead him directly to Akihiko, but it is more risky, as like all players, if he dies in-game, Aiden will die IRL (unless he manages to deactivate the microwave it with a hack). Hacking will also be more difficult, without access with an administrators's console (unless he hacks a stolen Nerve Gear or something before entering). The only known admin console that can be used by anyone is guarded by a powerful boss enemy, which severely injured both Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki in one attack, and could possibly one-hit kill a lower-level player. Still, if Aiden does make it in, he could potentially interface with the "sealed" AI Yui, and convince her to rebel against Akihiko, and the main AI controlling SAO, Cardinal. Potential Allies Shouzou Yuuki (External) Asuna Yuuki's father and CEO of RECTO Progress, a major software company, bought out the remains of Argus, including the SAO server. Could possibly be convinced to allow Aiden access to the server if Aiden can convince him he really can rescue his daughter. Other SAO Players (Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya, Asuna Yuuki etc) (Internal) Other players of SAO may be able to aid Aiden if he attacks from within the game itself. Aiden may also be able to aid high-level "clearers" with his hacking. Specifically, Aiden will likely need the help of players such as Kirito or Asuna to make it through the high-level dungeon under the Black Iron Castle to reach the hidden admin console. Yui (Internal) Yui or MHCP-001, was a psychological counseling AI presumably intended to deal with cases of MMORPG addiction, programmed prior to Sword Art Online being made into the "death game" it became. When SAO reached its final form, Kayaba Akihiko did not delete Yui, instead sealing her in the code of the game, kept in check with the AI CARDINAL. Yui rebelled against CARDINAL after seeing countless people die, and attempted to free the SAO victims with the aid of Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki. Yui, however, was almost deleted from the game when she deleted a monster that would have killed Kirito and Asuna, except for a copy saved to Kirito's Nerve Gear. In this scenario, if Aiden decides to attack the SAO server from the inside, he may be able to enlist Yui's help. Yui is known to have a talent for breaking firewalls, considering it to be a hobby of hers. =Kayaba Akihiko= Kayaba Akihiko (茅場晶彦 Kayaba Akihiko?) is the development director and GM (Game Master) of «Sword Art Online». He is also the designer of the virtual reality game console «NerveGear» and the game engine «VR Seed», as well as the main antagonist of the Aincrad Arc of Sword Art Online. In Kayaba's childhood, Kayaba expressed an interest in reading books. He was not particularly engrossed in games in computers, but he participated in the Mathematics Club of his high school. Later on, in university, he did not participate in any circles because he frequently worked in and out of laboratories. When he began developing Sword Art Online, Kayaba toiled for years to develop the game software. His main goal and dream was to create his dream fantasy world, the floating castle of Aincrad, but after he did so, he wasn't entirely sure what his dreams, aspirations, or purpose was. It can be deduced that Kayaba began working on Sword Art Online before his third year in university. His love interest was Koujiro Rinko, who assisted Kayaba for ten years of the game's development, and took care of his body during the course of SAO. In 2022, Akihiko releases a limited production of 10,000 copies of his game and console in Japan. Unknown to anyone else, Akihiko added deadly extra feature, an high-powered microwave generator would kill the user in real life if they died in game, or if someone tried to remove or tamper with the Nerve Gear headset. Akihiko succeeded in trapping ten thousand people in Sword Art Online, including Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya. Over 200 were killed on the first day due to attempted removals before Akihiko sent out a warning to media outlets and governments not to do so. At the same time, he informed players in game of the "rules" by forcibly teleporting all of them to the "Starting City" and addressing them through a large floating avatar that looked like a cloak with no one inside. Within two months, there had been over 2000 casualties, but the first floor had still not been cleared. His avatar, Heathcliff (ヒースクリフ Hīsukurifu?) is the leader of what is considered to be the Sword Art Online's strongest guild «Knights of the Blood». He is the owner of the «Unique Skill» «Holy Sword» and is considered to be strongest player in-game. He wields the one-handed sword and a tower shield collectively called as Liberator. He also was able to hold off the boss of the fiftieth level for ten minutes by himself, which earned him the title «Man of Legend» (伝説の男 Densetsu no Otoko?). It is also rumored in SAO that Heathcliff's health has never gone into the yellow zone. This is due to his identity being Kayaba Akihiko and being able to make himself invincible or otherwise making his character into an «Immortal Object» after his health reaches 50% or is about to surpass it. As a leader of the Knight of the Blood, Heathcliff was quite renowned for his general tendency to stay out of guild affairs, preferring to allow his subleaders to develop plans and advance the game. Apart from guild paperwork and battles, Heathcliff rarely interfered with the choices and actions of his sub-leaders. The only exception to this was when Asuna expressed her wish to leave the guild, and Heathcliff refused to allow her do so without challenging Kirito to a duel. Kirito first suspected his true identity during his match against Heathcliff when Kirito sees that Heathcliff's speed exceeded the system limits. However, Kirito figures out his true identity in the seventy-fifth floor. Kirito and Akihiko fight, and Akihiko seems to kill both Kirito and Asuna, however unknown glitch occurs allowing Kirito to launch one final attack after his HP ran out, Kirito manages to defeat Heathcliff and free the trapped players, at which point Akihiko dies, at least physically, though he is later seen again in Alfhiem Online Arc, revealing that he created a sort of artificial intelligence version of himself that possessed his memories and personality. Shortly before his death, Kirito asks Akihiko why he created the "death game", and Akihiko replies that he forgot why he did it long ago. It is hinted at several times that it may be related to a sort of "god complex" on the part of Akihiko, possibly related to some form of psychological disorder. (Modified from Sword Art Online Wiki) Weapons and Abilities NOTE: Akihiko's direct abilities will only really be an issue of Aiden chooses and internal approach. On the external approach, Aiden will not contend directly with Akihiko, but will have to hunt down Akihiko before he completes his plans, and without being arrested by the authorities Manipulation of Sword Art Online As the creator and only active administrator of Sword Art Online, Kayaba Akihiko is able to absolutely manipulate the world of SAO. For instance, he has 100% completion on all statistics, as well as the unique skill Holy Sword, allowing him to rapidly switch between offense and defense, making his defense almost impenetrable (except to someone with the raw gaming skill of Kirito... or the hacking prowess or Aiden...). If that is not enough, he also made his avatar become an indestructible object once he reaches 2/3 HP, though he does have a sense of honor and will deactivate this for his final duel. However, he may not do this if he finds out Aiden got to him through cheating... Liberator (Sword/Shield Combo) Akihiko's favored weapon is a set of a longsword and a tower shield, known collectively as Liberator. Akihiko is capable of using these weapons seamless for offensive and defensive techniques, unlike other players, who can only attack or defend at one time, making the defense almost impenetrable. Potential Allies CARDINAL (Internal/External) CARDINAL is the primary AI controlling the world of Sword Art Online, everything from the actions of NPCs and enemies, to the prices of items in NPC shops, to the weather and climate of every level in SAO. CARDINAL is also designed to detect unauthorized use of admin consoles, but for the purpose of this match, Aiden will be able to mask his presence in the system, however, if he screws up, it could be fatal, to him or other people. CARDINAL may also appear as an adversary on the "External" method of attack, as it presumably controls the firewalls protecting the SAO server, and may automatically activate the microwave generator of all players, killing all of them. Aiden has hacked his way around firewalls before, and will be able to for the purposes of this match, but if he fails, it won't just trigger and alarm, it will cost lives. Rinko Kojirou (External) Kayaba Akihiko's former girlfriend, who discovered his location in a cabin in a rural area connected to his own death game. Rinko originally intended to kill him and prevent his actions, but found herself unable to do so. Instead, she has been taking care of the unconcious Kayaba. While she is technically an ally, she might be able to be convinced to betray Akihiko, given her original intent. Even if Aiden can't convince her, if she finds her name on a persons of interest list after hacking the Tokyo PD, he could still follow her back to Akihiko's location with his mastery of CtOS 2.O. =Third Parties= In addition to Pearce, Akihiko, and their respective allies, other third parties will also be present in this electronic match of wits, which are not really on either's side. If either Aiden or Akihiko are killed or arrested by one of these third parties, it will be considered a win for the surviving combatant. Parties are listed by which method of attack (external or internal) they will be a factor in. Japanese Government (External) The Tokyo Police Department, Japanese National Police Agency, and the Japanese Government SAO Task Force are all agencies that may have access to information on Akihiko, but their mission puts them at odds with both Akihiko, and the vigilante Pearce, and will arrest (and fire on if attacked) either of them given the chance. Illegal actions by Aiden (including hacking, theft, carrying a firearm in public, and homicide) that are discovered by the police or reported by citizens will provoke a police response. Aiden will have to hack their servers to get a hold of any information they have on Akihiko or his associates such as Rinko Kojirou. However, if he finds and disconnects Akihiko while keeping him alive, Aiden could also lead them to him. If pursued by the police, Aiden will be able to evade them using any of the methods he uses in the game, including jamming signals and hacking objects such as retractable blockers, raising bridges, steam pipes, garage doors, retractable road spikes etc to create obstacles for pursuers. Yakuza (External) While not his main target, being a vigilante means Aiden will likely consider the Yakuza as a secondary target if he catches wind of their activities, such as drug dealing, arms dealing, and human trafficking, and will use his full array of weapons, freerunning skills, and hacking prowess to eliminate or apprehend those involved. The Aincrad Liberation Front/"The Army" (Internal) The Aincrad Liberation Front, also known as "The Army" is a guild in SAO originally dedicated to clearing the game and escaping, but after taking severe casualties during one raid against a level boss, the ALF changed their mission to law enforcement with Sword Art Online. Aiden may be able to aid the ALF forces in continuing their clearing mission with his hacking abilities, but some ALF officials are corrupt, extorting in-game money and valuable items out of players, which would make them a secondary target in Aiden's vigilantism. The Laughing Coffin (and other criminal guilds) (Internal) Sword Art Online has a number of "criminal guilds" among its players. Most of these guilds are devoted to theft or extortion from players, however, one guild, the "Laughing Coffin" are a group known for murder or "PKing" (player killing). With the system set up in Kayaba's "Death Game", this makes them guilty of their crimes not just in game, but in real life as well. These actions would make them targets for Aiden if he chooses the internal route. =X-Factors= Explanations Aiden takes real world combat experience, training, and strength, mainly as Aiden has actually fought in real life, unlike Kayaba, even if his formal training was minimal. In terms of cyberspace dominance, Aiden easily takes this outside of Sword Art Online, with his connection to CtOS 2.O, however, inside the game, Kayaba has complete control with his admin priveliges, which will be difficult, but not impossible for Aiden to wrest away from him. In terms of intelligence, they are about even, particularly in terms of computer programming, Aiden having programmed an advanced hacking app on his smartphone, and Kayaba programming a virtual reality video game. In terms of allies, neither has that many, both being wanted criminals, however, people will sympathize with Aiden, unlike Akihiko, who is seen as child murderer. =Scenario= When considering a vote, note that I have listed all possibilities, and Aiden will only choose to most effective among them, in my opinion probably the external route, so in your vote, the chance of success will essentially be what you view as his chance of success on the route you believe will be most efficient. =Battle= Outside the National Public Safety Commission Building, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, Japan, February 2, 2023 Aiden Pearce walked down a crowded street in Chiyoda, before taking a seat on a bench across the road from the National Public Safety Commission's headquarters building. In a crowd this larger, even a gaijin such as Pearce would go unnoticed. Pearce took out his Iphone and turned it on, looking into the screen and seeing what looked like a camera phone app. However, instead of a button to take a photo, there was a dialogue box in the center of the screen reading "Vulnerability Detected: Camera", around a camera in the inside of the the NPA office. Aiden tapped the dialogue box, and immediately, the feed from the camera was transferred to his cell phone screen. He was no looking through the camera in the lobby of the building. Aiden immediately switched to another camera located behind the front desk. As he did so, he saw a man in a black hair and glasses. The translator associated with his custom CtOS hacking app labelled the man as "Kikuoka Seijirou, Sword Art Online Task Force, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication". At Seijirou's waist, Aiden saw a dialogue box labeled: "Vulnerability Detected: Smartphone Camera". Aiden tapped the dialogue box. He was now view the room from the level of Seijirou's back pocket, an odd persepective to be sure. Seijirou spoke briefly with the receptionists at the desk, before entering in the elevator and ascending to the seventh floor, to the headquarters of the Japanese National Police Agency, where he entered the room of one Takashi Matsuzawa, the head of the NPA's SAO Task Force. Clearly, Seijirou was meeting with his opposite number in the NPA. For about 10 minutes, the camera showed the view of the door to Matsuzawa's office. Aiden bided his time, sooner or later, Seijirou would turn around and leave, giving Aiden a clean shot at Matsuzawa's computer. As soon as Seijirou turned to leave, Aiden seized his chance. Tapping the computer, the screen of the smart phone changed to a progress bar: "Planting Worm: 0%... 20%...40%...60%....80%....100%... Installation Successful. He was in, Aiden Pearce now had full access to all of the files of the NPA and all other agencies involved in SAO, all translated thanks to CtOS 2.0's next generation software. Night of February 2, 2023, Hilton Chiyoda Hotel, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan Aiden Pearce sat on the bed in his hotel room, his smartphone connected to his laptop, allowing him to access to all of the files on the SAO incident. Aiden opened a promising looking file: Persons of Interest. Aiden scanned the names, and scanned the first name: Kayaba Taro, Akihiko's father. A quick search of camera sightings turned up nothing suspicious. "OK then... next name", Kayaba Hiroko, nothing. "Nobuyuki Sugou, a former associate of Kayaba's and an employee of RECTO Progress... Engaged to Asuna Yuuki... a 17-year old girl in an arranged marriage...", Aiden said to himself, "Bit of a creep, but no evidence of criminal activity. The fact that he works on the SAO server frequently, though... that's enough to make him worth keeping an eye on..." "Rinko Koujirou, Akihiko's former girlfriend. Recent purchases... now why would a computer scientist need IV supplies?", Aiden thought. Aiden scanned the CtOS network. Rinko has been spotted on security cameras around her apartment, her lab at Touto university, stores in the area and... the mountain town of Nishitama... She went there every few days, and based on her pattern, she should be heading there tomorrow. "I think I'm going to have a word with Ms. Koujirou", Aiden said to himself, "But first, there is other business to take care of." February 2, 2023, Tokyo Breakwater Landfill, Artificial Island in Tokyo Bay It was about 12 midnight local time, and the landfill was deserted, the only light, apart from the lights of the city of Tokyo visible in the backdrop, and the many boats and ships in the bay, was that of a single garbage truck with the back open. Three men stood near the garbage truck, all of them Chinese nationals. Apparently, the Yakuza had set up a deal with a group of Chinese Triad-affiliated illegal arms dealers, armed with a large shipment of weapons stolen from The Chinese People's Liberation Army. Aiden stood on top of a pile of garbage that had only recently been covered with soil. He looked through the ACOG scope on his suppressed Heckler & Koch 416 assault rifle, and spotted a large number of crates of weapons lying next to the truck, including Type 56 AK-clones, Type 69 RPGs, QBZ-95s, and other Chinese military hardware. The Yakuza party sent to retrieve the munitions had not yet arrived. This was going to be too easy. Aiden placed the ACOG's crosshair over the head of the first arms dealer and fired a single shot. His target keeled over, dead, immediately. With the suppressor attached, the arms dealers had no idea where the shot came from. Swiftly, Aiden dispatched the other two. After he had disposed of the arms dealers, Aiden walked down the hill of waste to the dirt road into the landfill, where the truck stood unattended. Aiden grabbed a Type 69 RPG and a spare rocket from the arms cache, lugged it up the hill of trash, and lay in wait. After about 15 minutes, the headlights of three vehicles broke the darkness, two unmarked black cars and a small delivery truck. The three vehicles stopped, and a group of armed men walked out, their weapons at the ready, clearly having noticed that their contacts were dead. Aiden fired the RPG at the truck in the middle of the Yakuza convoy. The rocket shot out with a streak of fire, and exploded in a flash of flames that killed off four of the six Yakuza thugs. Aiden tossed aside the launcher as as the Yakuza turned towards and grabbed his HK-416, just in time roll out of the way and avoid a burst of fire from a Yakuza enforcer armed with a Howa Type 64 assault rifle. Aiden returned fire, striking a the enforcer with a three-round burst, before turning his weapon on his pistol-wielding fellow before he could fire. Aiden then retrieved the RPG and reloaded, taking aim at the crate of illegal arms crate next to the garbage truck. Aiden fired the launcher a second time, blowing up the arms cache in a spectacular fireball, ammunition cooking off like firecrackers in the flames. Aiden tossed the launcher aside, confident that the load of illegal arms wouldn't be killing anyone in their current state, and left the scene, walking about 100 meters to his car. By the time the Tokyo Police and fire departments got the scene, Aiden was back in his hotel room, having just taken a shower- the garbage mound he had been standing on had been covered with soil, but he would rather clean up before going to bed. The next day, streets of west Tokyo, Japan Aiden Pearce parked the rental car about 50 meters down the street from Rinko Koujirou's Suginami ward apartment, waiting about half and hour before his phone identified his quarry. The road was only barely wide enough for him to park on the shoulder- half of his wheels were on the sidewalk- he hoped the police would not show up and force him to flee. Fortunately, his luck held, and Aiden spotted Rinko loaded a large cardboard box into the back of her dark blue compact Honda and drove off, out of the small parking lot of her building, consisting of a dozen apartments, unaware that she was being shadowed by a white 2019 Toyota Camry driven by a foreign hacker-vigilante. Rinko turned off the street her apartment was on, and onto a much wider main road making its way through the concrete canyons of Tokyo, at this point flanked by buildings about 8-12 stories tall, though near where the road crossed a railway line, there was a much larger structure, a roughly 25 story tower. For there, Rinko continued along the road. For a good hour at least the stop-and-go traffic continued, before the Shin-Oume Highway finally cleared out, allowing both Rinko, and Aiden to speed up. But it was not until he reached Oume, that Aiden could see the mountains, which marked the end of the massive urban sprawl that was Tokyo. The road ran along the Tama river, then up, along the side of a mountain, narrowing to two lanes. The rows of buildings were quickly replaced by rows of pine trees along the side of the road. Soon, his vehicle and Rinko's were the only ones on the road, Aiden staying about 200 meters behind her. At the apex of a mountain pass leading down into Nishitama, Rinko got off the main road, up an even narrower road, no wider than a driveway, winding higher up into the mountains. After letting her have a slight head start to avoid detection, Aiden turned down the road, driving uphill, until Rinko drove down something that was definitely a driveway. Kayaba Akihiko's mountain cottage, Nishitama, Japan At that point, Aiden decided to leave the car at the side of the road and walked though the woods about 100 meters, one hand on the grip of his Beretta PX4. He spotted Rinko get out of the car and turned on the translation app on his Iphone, before he walked out of the woods and said, "Koujirou Rinko, I'd like to have a word with you." The Iphone spat out the phrase in a robotic voice. Rinko turned to Aiden and said, "You don't need that little toy of yours, I can speak English. And I know why you're here. You're looking for Kayaba Akihiko", Rinko said, "But you don't look like the police...". "That's because I'm not. Are you familiar with the name Aiden Pearce?", Aiden asked "That vigilante that took down the Chicago South Club...?", Rinko said, "I'm not going to let you kill him, if that's what you're planning". "Relax, I'm not trying to kill anyone. Only to stop more murders. I can disconnect him.", Aiden said, as he pushed past Rinko, and opened the door to the cottage. Akihiko lay on the bed in the master bedroom, connected to all manner of IVs and machines. Aiden pointed his phone at one machine in particular, and pressed the dialogue box. After only a few seconds, the hacking software found a vulnerability in the SAO server. At that moment, all of the over 8000 surviving players of Sword Art Online were logged out. Kayaba Akihiko lifted the Nerve Gear off his head and turned to see what had roused him from the "Death Game" he expected to spend his final days, before he fell in battle, and his conciousness was copied onto a state of the art machine, the first human to create his own world, with real inhabitants, and then transcend his mortal body. "No...", Kayaba said, Aiden's phone interpreting for him, "This... I can't... it's not finished yet.... Aincrad is not complete..." Kayaba then turned to the gaijin in front of him, and shouted angrily, now speaking English... "You... YOU DID THIS... YOU RUINED MY LIFE'S WORK!" Kayaba Akihiko grabbed an IV stand and stumbled forward and clumsily swung at Aiden. Aiden easily evaded the attack and drew a Tactical Baton, retaliating with a strike to the head, in exactly the right location to knock Kayaba Akihiko unconscious without harming him permanently. At that moment, Rinko Koujirou burst through the door, yelling "Akihiko!", and running towards him, "You...", she said as she turned to Aiden. "Relax", Aiden said, "He's only unconcious". Rinko knelt down on the floor, placing her hand on Akihiko's neck, confirming he still had a pulse". "By the way", Aiden said, "The local police just received an 'anonymous tip' that Kayaba Akihiko is hiding out at this location. I suggest you cooperate, it will only be worse for you if you run... and if you try to drag him away with you, I'll find you." As Aiden walked away from the cottage, he could hear sirens in the distance. Sure enough, as he drove his rental car down the mountain road, two police cars blew by in the opposite direction, not paying any attention to the gaijin vigilante in the car headed the opposite direction. The next day, Chiyoda Hilton Hotel Aiden Pearce sat on the bed of his hotel room, reading the news on his smartphone. Kayaba Akihiko had been captured soon after Aiden had awoken him, and the majority of the 8000 or so surviving SAO players had been logged out. Kayaba Akihiko was no facing over 2000 counts of first degree murder, and 8000 counts of conspiracy to commit murder. Japan had given up the death penalty in 2018, but but many members of the victim's families were pushing for its reinstatement in the case of Akihiko. As is, Kayaba was facing over 2000 life sentences. He would spend the rest of his life in prison. But, looking at the news article, Aiden realized his work was not done. About 300 SAO players had not awakened, still apparently logged into SAO, or, more likely given the shutting down of the server, having been transferred to some other VR MMO. "Looks like I'll need to book a few more nights her and cancel that flight back to the states", Aiden said, doing just that effortlessly with his hacking skills- free travel and hotels were one of the many perks of being an expert hacker. Aiden then flipped through the profiles he had gotten from the police database, landing on one Nobuyuki Sugou. Sugou has worked extensively on maintaining the SAO server, and further more, he was arranged to marry Asuna Yuuki, RECTO CEO Shouzou Yuuki's daughter, and a 17 year old girl at that. It was all too convenient. Clearly he was keeping her unconcious to keep her from any "competition". As for the others, Aiden would find out soon enough... Expert's Opinion Aiden Pearce won this battle of wits because of his superior hacking skills, having hacked the CtOS 2.0 system, having given him practically complete control of city infrastructure and databases. There was simply nowhere Akihiko could hide. Aiden also proved too skilled a combatant to be taken out by other criminals such as the Yakuza. To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here. Category:Blog posts